The Philippines is once again putting itself on the world map.
The Southeast Asian country is vying for four major awards in the World Travel Awards (WTA), the travel industry’s most prestigious awards program that rewards leaders in tourism, airline, hotel and hospitality sectors.
It is also dubbed as the Oscars of the travel industry.
The WTA acknowledges excellence in the travel and tourism industry in three tiers: country, regional, and world awards across different categories.
This year, the Philippines has been nominated in four categories:
- World’s Leading Beach Destination
- World’s Leading Dive Destination
- World’s Leading Island Destination
- (Department of Tourism) World’s Leading Tourist Board
Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco said that the nominations prove the “growing global interest and love for the Philippines.”
“With the natural beauty of our beaches, dive sites, and islands, the wealth of history, heritage, and culture, the festivals, flavors, and adventures across our diverse Regions, every tourist’s journey guarantees a lifetime of memories,” she said in a statement.
“Tourism employs over 5.35 million Filipinos who display such care and hospitality for our tourists that make the Philippine experience truly unforgettable,” Frasco added.
The Department of Tourism said that Filipinos have the chance to show support for the country by voting in WTA’s online portal until midnight of November 17.
They need to do the following:
- Register for an account with an email and password
- Go to your email and click the verification link that will be sent by WTA
- Log in to cast your vote
- Nominees are listed alphabetically within each award
For travel industry voters, they may upgrade their account to “industry” status by providing their company details and association membership number during registration and submitting a minimum of 10 votes.
Votes that verified industry voters cast will count as two votes, while those that are cast by non-industry voters will count as one vote.
The Philippines is defending its back-to-back titles as the World’s Leading Beach and Dive Destination after winning the title last year. It has won the World’s Leading Dive Destination for four consecutive years since 2019.
On the other hand, the country was hailed the Leading Beach Destination in Asia for the sixth time.
Aside from these titles, Intramuros was once again hailed as Asia’s Leading Tourist Attraction at the WTA Asia Category in September 2022.
The Philippines has been consistently winning this prestigious award since 2013.
